While it may seem that I am singling out Razorbacks to talk about in my articles lately, it is. The reason is because I have rarely missed their games in the past 10+ years (especially since Petrino took over and there games are actually on TV in my area) and I know about them, so I am going to write what I know. In a previous article I talked a lot about how Bobby Petrino's offense greatly benefited Ryan Mallett, and D.J. Williams, well it benefits most all the players on the offensive side of the ball, and since they have a couple of tackles and what I consider to be an elite Tight End available in the draft I thought I would talk about how they were helped also.
Another position that benefited from Petrino's offense is the linemen, specifically the tackles, and to a lesser extent the guards. For this exercise we are focusing on the two tackles that are draft eligible: DeMarcus Love and Ray Dominguez. In Petrino's offense there is not a "left tackle" and a "right tackle" there is the "strong tackle" and the "weak tackle". The tackles are constantly switching sides trying to take advantage of specific match ups the defense gives them. For a tackle (even though Dominguez will probably be a guard in the NFL) this means that both guys have experience playing with either hand down, and will be comfortable playing on either side of the line in the NFL. And we all know that NFL coaches value a "swing tackle" or any versatile player (especially O-linemen) very much at the pro level. This gives NFL teams flexibility, and increased continuity if there is an injury on the line, it's another aspect that gives NFL coaches more control (and NFL coaches are super control freaks). Another big advantage these two players have is that at Arkansas they ran a lot of zone blocking which translates to quite a few teams in the NFL.
Neither one of these guys is expected to be a high pick, I project them both to be mid-round guys (3-5 for Love and 5-7 for Dominguez), but they bring other assets to the table. For DeMarcus Love he has good size for a left tackle, but will probably play right tackle in the league, but his work ethic on and off the field are unrivaled, along with his dedication to community service, he is quiet but leads by example. Ray Dominguez on the other hand is to slow with to short of arms and not powerful enough to be an effective tackle in the NFL at this point. Given some time in an NFL weight room I believe he will be at most an effective Right Guard in the NFL, and at the worst he will be a great insurance policy as a guy that can line up at many spots on the line.
So no matter which way you slice it these two guys provide good value in this draft.
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